The IRA splinter groups Resources Splinter groups BBC site on terrorism and Northern Ireland TASK In groups you will research one of the following IRA splinter groups. You will be required to add your notes to this wiki page. You should also give a 2 minute presentation to the class on the splinter group you have researched. You will also show your A3 poster at this time. The presentations will happen Next Tursday but the wiki info needs to be completed by the end of friday's lesson. Answer the following on each (When and how did it begin?, why it began?, Has the group been responsible for any bombings/attacks? Give examples) Place your infromation under the headings below.
The Provisional IRA
What is the Provisional IRA??
The Provisional Irish Republican Army is an Irish republican paramilitary organisation whose aim was to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and bring about a socialist republic within a united Ireland by force of arms and political persuasion. It emerged out of the December 1969 split of the Irish Republican Army over differences of ideology and how to respond to violence against the nationalist community.
Strategies of the Provisional IRA
Initial:
The IRA's initial strategy was to use force to cause the collapse of the Northern Ireland administration and to inflict enough casualties on the British forces that the British government would be forced by public opinion to withdraw from the region. According to journalist Brendan O'Brien, "the thinking was that the war would be short and successful. Chief of Staff Seán Mac Stíofáin decided they would 'escalate, escalate and escalate' until the British agreed to go.”
Ceasefire:
The IRA agreed to a ceasefire in February 1975, which lasted nearly a year before the IRA concluded that the British were drawing them into politics without offering any guarantees in relation to the IRA's goals, and hopes of a quick victory receded. As a result, the IRA launched a new strategy known as "the Long War". This saw them conduct a war of attrition against the British and increase emphasis on political activity, via the political party Sinn Féin. The Provisionals' goal in this period was the abolition of both the Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland states and their replacement with a new all-Ireland federal republic. This programme was known as Éire Nua (New Ireland). The Éire Nua programme remained IRA policy until discontinued by the Army Council in 1979.
Secret meetings between Provisional IRA leaders Ruairí Ó Brádaigh and Billy McKee with British Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Merlyn Rees secured an IRA ceasefire which began in February 1975. The IRA initially believed that this was the start of a long-term process of British withdrawal, but later came to the conclusion that Rees was trying to bring them into peaceful politics without offering them any guarantees.
The Long War:
Thereafter, the IRA, under the leadership of Adams and his supporters, evolved a new strategy termed the "Long War.” It involved a re-organisation of the IRA into small cells, an acceptance that their campaign would last many years before being successful and an increased emphasis on political activity through Sinn Féin. The Long War was describes as: a war of attrition against enemy personnel (British Army) based on causing as many deaths as possible so as to create a demand from their people at home for their withdrawal.
Peace Treaty:
Gerry Adams entered talks with John Hume, the leader of the moderate nationalist Social Democratic and Labor Party (SDLP) and secret talks were also conducted with British civil servants. Thereafter, Adams increasingly tried to disassociate Sinn Féin from the IRA, claiming they were separate organizations and refusing to speak on behalf of the IRA. Within the Republican Movement (the IRA and Sinn Féin), the new strategy was described by the acronym "TUAS", meaning either "Tactical Use of Armed Struggle" or "Totally Unarmed Strategy".
The IRA ultimately called a ceasefire in 1994 on the understanding that Sinn Féin would be included in political talks for a settlement. When this did not happen, the IRA called off its ceasefire from February 1996 until July 1997, carrying out several bombing and shooting attacks. After its ceasefire was reinstated, Sinn Féin was re-admitted into the "peace process", which produced the Good Friday Agreement of 1998.
Masked members of the Real Irish Republican Army (RIRA)
The Real IRA (RIRA) was formed in 1997 by conservatives who opposed the Provisional IRA and Sinn Fein, after they accepted the Good Friday Agreement which was supposed to end hostilities. Michael McKevitt, an Irish Republican, founded the group. He was in charge of the provisional IRA’s armoury before he split over the IRA’s new peace policy. The Real IRA wanted to stop the peace process and further the reunification movement by continuing terrorist activities aimed at the British. The Real IRA is estimated to have 100-200 active members.
The RIRA was responsible for the Omagh bombing on 15th August 1998. They set off a 500 pound car bomb, in the Northern Ireland town of Omagh in which 29 civilians died. The Real IRA later apologised for the bombing saying it had intended only to hit commercial targets. It later called a ceasefire to all military operations. The group resumed terrorist operations early in 2000.
The last fatal attack carried out by the Real IRA was in August 2002, when a construction worker was killed at a British Army Base in London. The most recent attack by the Real IRA in November 2007, two policemen in Northern Ireland were wounded in two armed attacks.
McKevitt was arrested in March 2001 by Irish authorities, convicted in August 2003, and is currently serving a twenty-year sentence in an Irish jail.
The Continuity IRA (CIRA) branched off from the IRA in 1994. They branched off as the “clandestine armed wing of Republican Sinn Fein”. They consider themselves to be a continuation of the original IRA campaign to remove British control from Northern Ireland. CIRA is thought to have about 50 members, and they received aid from supporters in the United States. Members are responsible for the attacks around Northern Ireland over the years. Since 1994, the CIRA has conducted sporadic assassinations and bombings. These were mostly aimed at Protestant targets in Northern Ireland and around Belfast. CIRA released a list in 2006 identifying about twenty people who were to be targeted by violence.
After the list was made public, several were the victims of shootings. Although no attacks were successful in 2007, three members were arrested after the discovery of a homemade bomb on a railway. It is thought that the people who would later establish the CIRA carried out a notorious 1987 bombing in the Northern Ireland town of Enniskillen that killed eleven people.
The Continuity IRA was set up as a paramilitary wing of the political party Republican Sinn Fein, which split from Sinn Fein in 1986. 'Continuity' refers to the group's purpose to carry on the original aim of the IRA, to force the British out of Ireland.
The Continuity IRA was responsible for the 1996 bombing of the Killyhelvin Hotel in Enniskillen.
It has also been linked to attacks such as the bombings in Moira and Portadown in 1998.
Ex-IRA members see the group as amateurish. It appears to be overshadowed by the Real IRA as a home for IRA dissidents
Formed in 1975 as military wing of the Irish Republican Socialist Party which had split from the official IRA (OIRA)due to its cease fire in 1972.
Dates to the cold war
believes in a Marxist ideology
Has the group been responsible for any bombings/attacks
Active in Belfast and the border areas of Northern Ireland - carried out bombings, assassinations, kidnappings, hijackings, extortion, and robberies.
Bombing of Ballykelly pub that killed 17 people in 1982
Gunmen shot dead Billy Wright who was the notorious leader of the protestant "loyalist" terrorist group as he was serving a sentence in Northern Irelands Maze prison in December 1997
Targets include British military, Northern Ireland security targets, and loyalist paramilitary groups
Experts say these days that the INLA is known more for its participation in the drug trade and other criminal activities than it is for outright terrorism.
Least active of the splinter groups
Announced ceasefire in August 1998
Continues to carry out occasional attacks and punishment beatings
Resources
Splinter groups
BBC site on terrorism and Northern Ireland
TASK
In groups you will research one of the following IRA splinter groups.
You will be required to add your notes to this wiki page. You should also give a 2 minute presentation to the class on the splinter group you have researched. You will also show your A3 poster at this time.
The presentations will happen Next Tursday but the wiki info needs to be completed by the end of friday's lesson.
Answer the following on each (When and how did it begin?, why it began?, Has the group been responsible for any bombings/attacks? Give examples) Place your infromation under the headings below.
The Provisional IRA
What is the Provisional IRA??
The Provisional Irish Republican Army is an Irish republican paramilitary organisation whose aim was to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and bring about a socialist republic within a united Ireland by force of arms and political persuasion. It emerged out of the December 1969 split of the Irish Republican Army over differences of ideology and how to respond to violence against the nationalist community.
Strategies of the Provisional IRA
Initial:
The IRA's initial strategy was to use force to cause the collapse of the Northern Ireland administration and to inflict enough casualties on the British forces that the British government would be forced by public opinion to withdraw from the region. According to journalist Brendan O'Brien, "the thinking was that the war would be short and successful. Chief of Staff Seán Mac Stíofáin decided they would 'escalate, escalate and escalate' until the British agreed to go.”
Ceasefire:
The IRA agreed to a ceasefire in February 1975, which lasted nearly a year before the IRA concluded that the British were drawing them into politics without offering any guarantees in relation to the IRA's goals, and hopes of a quick victory receded. As a result, the IRA launched a new strategy known as "the Long War". This saw them conduct a war of attrition against the British and increase emphasis on political activity, via the political party Sinn Féin. The Provisionals' goal in this period was the abolition of both the Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland states and their replacement with a new all-Ireland federal republic. This programme was known as Éire Nua (New Ireland). The Éire Nua programme remained IRA policy until discontinued by the Army Council in 1979.
Secret meetings between Provisional IRA leaders Ruairí Ó Brádaigh and Billy McKee with British Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Merlyn Rees secured an IRA ceasefire which began in February 1975. The IRA initially believed that this was the start of a long-term process of British withdrawal, but later came to the conclusion that Rees was trying to bring them into peaceful politics without offering them any guarantees.
The Long War:
Thereafter, the IRA, under the leadership of Adams and his supporters, evolved a new strategy termed the "Long War.” It involved a re-organisation of the IRA into small cells, an acceptance that their campaign would last many years before being successful and an increased emphasis on political activity through Sinn Féin. The Long War was describes as: a war of attrition against enemy personnel (British Army) based on causing as many deaths as possible so as to create a demand from their people at home for their withdrawal.
Peace Treaty:
Gerry Adams entered talks with John Hume, the leader of the moderate nationalist Social Democratic and Labor Party (SDLP) and secret talks were also conducted with British civil servants. Thereafter, Adams increasingly tried to disassociate Sinn Féin from the IRA, claiming they were separate organizations and refusing to speak on behalf of the IRA. Within the Republican Movement (the IRA and Sinn Féin), the new strategy was described by the acronym "TUAS", meaning either "Tactical Use of Armed Struggle" or "Totally Unarmed Strategy".
The IRA ultimately called a ceasefire in 1994 on the understanding that Sinn Féin would be included in political talks for a settlement. When this did not happen, the IRA called off its ceasefire from February 1996 until July 1997, carrying out several bombing and shooting attacks. After its ceasefire was reinstated, Sinn Féin was re-admitted into the "peace process", which produced the Good Friday Agreement of 1998.
The Real IRA
The Real IRA (RIRA) was formed in 1997 by conservatives who opposed the Provisional IRA and Sinn Fein, after they accepted the Good Friday Agreement which was supposed to end hostilities. Michael McKevitt, an Irish Republican, founded the group. He was in charge of the provisional IRA’s armoury before he split over the IRA’s new peace policy. The Real IRA wanted to stop the peace process and further the reunification movement by continuing terrorist activities aimed at the British. The Real IRA is estimated to have 100-200 active members.
The RIRA was responsible for the Omagh bombing on 15th August 1998. They set off a 500 pound car bomb, in the Northern Ireland town of Omagh in which 29 civilians died. The Real IRA later apologised for the bombing saying it had intended only to hit commercial targets. It later called a ceasefire to all military operations. The group resumed terrorist operations early in 2000.
The last fatal attack carried out by the Real IRA was in August 2002, when a construction worker was killed at a British Army Base in London. The most recent attack by the Real IRA in November 2007, two policemen in Northern Ireland were wounded in two armed attacks.
McKevitt was arrested in March 2001 by Irish authorities, convicted in August 2003, and is currently serving a twenty-year sentence in an Irish jail.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/columnists/article-133336/The-truth-real-IRA.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/northern_ireland/understanding/parties_paramilitaries/real_ira.stm
http://www.cfr.org/terrorist-organizations/ira-splinter-groups-uk-separatists/p9239
The Continuity IRA
The Continuity IRA (CIRA) branched off from the IRA in 1994. They branched off as the “clandestine armed wing of Republican Sinn Fein”. They consider themselves to be a continuation of the original IRA campaign to remove British control from Northern Ireland. CIRA is thought to have about 50 members, and they received aid from supporters in the United States.
Members are responsible for the attacks around Northern Ireland over the years. Since 1994, the CIRA has conducted sporadic assassinations and bombings. These were mostly aimed at Protestant targets in Northern Ireland and around Belfast. CIRA released a list in 2006 identifying about twenty people who were to be targeted by violence.
After the list was made public, several were the victims of shootings. Although no attacks were successful in 2007, three members were arrested after the discovery of a homemade bomb on a railway.
It is thought that the people who would later establish the CIRA carried out a notorious 1987 bombing in the Northern Ireland town of Enniskillen that killed eleven people.
The Continuity IRA was set up as a paramilitary wing of the political party Republican Sinn Fein, which split from Sinn Fein in 1986. 'Continuity' refers to the group's purpose to carry on the original aim of the IRA, to force the British out of Ireland.
The Irish National Liberation Army
When and how did they begin ?
- F
ormed in 1975 as military wing of the Irish Republican Socialist Party which had split from the official IRA (OIRA)due to its cease fire in 1972. - Dates to the cold war
- believes in a Marxist ideology
Has the group been responsible for any bombings/attacksPowerpoint: